Deck 8: Sexuality and Society

Question 1

The effect of the sexual counter-revolution was

A) to keep sex only within marriage.
B) to encourage people to limit their number of sexual partners or, in some cases, to abstain from sex entirely.
C) to finally close the historical "double standard."
D) to discourage the use of birth control technology.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Sexual attraction to someone of the same sex is called

A) heterosexuality.
B) bisexuality.
C) homosexuality.
D) asexuality.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following has been TRUE of Canadians over time?

A) We are less permissive of non-marital sex.
B) We are more permissive of homosexuality.
C) We have been increasingly viewing extramarital sex as acceptable for women but not men.
D) We believe, in increasing proportions of the population, that premarital sex is fine for those over the age of 21.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which concept refers to humans who have some combination of female and male sexual characteristics?

A) multi-sexed
B) bisexual
C) transsexual
D) intersexual

Question 5

Sociologists offer several explanations for the fact that the incest taboo is found everywhere. Look at the statements below and identify the statement that is NOT a claim made by sociologists.

A) The incest taboo limits sexual competition within families.
B) The incest taboo helps define people's rights and obligations toward each other.
C) The incest taboo helps clarify the kinship system.
D) The incest taboo discourages contact of family members with the larger society.

Question 6

Which concept refers to genitals that distinguish females and males?

A) gender
B) primary sex characteristics
C) secondary sex characteristics
D) sexual chromosomes

Question 7

When it comes to sexuality, are Canadians restrictive or permissive?

A) restrictive
B) permissive
C) both
D) neither

Question 8

The sexual counter-revolution began in the United States in

A) 1920.
B) 1960.
C) 1980.
D) 1995.

Question 9

The importance of Alfred Kinsey's research on sexuality in the United States was

A) making sexuality a focus of scientific study.
B) describing how out-of-date the incest taboo was.
C) proving that, despite cultural differences, we all have sex the same way.
D) illustrating the standard way all Americans engage in sexual activity.

Question 10

Research on extramarital sex shows that about _____ of married men and about _____ of married women remain faithful to their spouse throughout their married lives.

A) 25 percent; 40 percent
B) 25 percent; 75 percent
C) 75 percent; 50 percent
D) 75 percent; 90 percent

Question 11

If you often had the feeling of being "trapped in the wrong body," you might well be

A) a hermaphrodite.
B) a homosexual.
C) a transsexual.
D) a bisexual.

Question 12

One norm found everywhere is the incest taboo, which refers to

A) norms forbidding young children from engaging in sex.
B) norms forbidding sexual relations or marriage between certain relatives.
C) norms forbidding women from becoming sexually active before marriage.
D) norms forbidding sex except for the purpose of having children.

Question 13

Survey research on attitudes towards premarital sex tells us that

A) the public is more accepting of premarital sex than it was a generation ago.
B) there has been little or no change in public attitudes towards premarital sex in recent decades.
C) the public is less accepting of premarital sex than it was a generation ago.
D) almost no one today claims that premarital sex is wrong.

Question 14

The development of breasts in females and deeper voices in males are examples of

A) gender norms.
B) primary sex characteristics.
C) secondary sex characteristics.
D) tertiary sex characteristics.

Question 15

When did the sexual revolution begin?

A) It began in the colonial era.
B) It began during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
C) It began in 1920s and grew quickly in the late 1960s.
D) It began about 1980.

Question 16

The Sociology and the Media Box called "The Boy Who was Raised as a Girl" describes traits that females and males, guided by their culture, incorporate into their personalities or

A) sex.
B) primary sex characteristics.
C) gender identity.
D) transsexuality.

Question 17

Comparative research indicates that

A) although sex has a biological foundation, sexual practices vary from place to place as an element of culture.
B) people throughout the world engage in the same sexual practices.
C) sex is a not permitted in some societies, but it is encouraged in others.
D) sexuality is defined entirely by a biological "sex drive."

Question 18

Which of the following concepts refers to a person's romantic and emotional attraction to another person?

A) sex role
B) sexual orientation
C) sexual experience
D) personal transsexuality

Question 19

A reason to study sexuality from the sociological perspective is

A) sexuality is the source of most social issues.
B) sexuality is completely understood by most people, especially sociologists.
C) sexuality plays a part in many areas of social life.
D) There isn't one; sexuality is biological and has nothing to do with sociology.

Question 20

Which concept refers to the biological distinction between males and females?

A) sex
B) primary sex characteristics
C) gender
D) gender roles

Question 21

The concept "homophobia" refers to

A) fear of pregnancy.
B) fear of one's own sexuality.
C) fear of close personal interaction with people thought to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
D) fear of attracting sexual interest from another person.

Question 22

If you were to study the changing meaning of virginity over the last century in our society, you would discover that the norm stating that people remain virgins until marriage

A) has changed little.
B) has become stronger with regard to women.
C) has become stronger with regard to men.
D) has become weaker.

Question 23

Elite prostitutes-young, attractive, and well-educated-are widely referred to as _____.

A) streetwalkers
B) brothel workers
C) call girls or escorts
D) companions

Question 24

Which of the following categories of teenagers would you correctly place at highest probability of pregnancy?

A) teenage women with low incomes and weak families
B) teenage women with high incomes
C) teenage women with little sexual experience
D) teenage women with proper access to education

Question 25

The more global our view of sexuality,

A) the more variety we see in the meanings people attach to sexuality.
B) the greater the evidence that biology defines sexuality.
C) the clearer we see that sexual practices are mostly the same all around the world.
D) the less we know about it.

Question 26

Sexual attraction to people of both sexes is called

A) heterosexuality.
B) bisexuality.
C) homosexuality.
D) asexuality.

Question 27

Prostitution is regarded by many people in Canada as a

A) victimless crime.
B) corporate crime.
C) crime against the person.
D) white-collar crime.

Question 28

In Canada, rape is officially recorded as

A) a victimless crime.
B) sexual assault.
C) battery.
D) theft under $1000.00.

Question 29

Which theoretical approach rests on the idea that society needs to regulate human sexuality?

A) the structural-functional approach
B) the symbolic-interaction approach
C) the social-conflict approach
D) queer theory

Question 30

If you were teaching a class about the symbolic-interaction approach to sexuality, on which of the following topics would you likely focus?

A) understanding men's power over women
B) raising public concern about sexual harassment
C) how individuals in various settings engage in different sexual behaviour and attach different meanings to sexual activity
D) understanding why society must regulate with whom and when people reproduce

Question 31

Assume you are investigating the consequences of the incest taboo for kinship organization in a number of societies. Which theoretical approach are you using?

A) the structural-functional approach
B) the symbolic-interaction approach
C) the social-conflict approach
D) queer theory

Question 32

People who oppose pornography would NOT argue that

A) they oppose it on moral grounds.
B) it may contribute to violence against women.
C)it unfairly depicts women as the playthings of men.
D) it is a potential solution to violence against women.

Question 33

Which one of the following statements about sexual assault is NOT true?

A) Many rapes are not reported to the police.
B) Official rape statistics include only victims who are women.
C) In most cases of rape, the victim does not know the attacker.
D) Most men who rape men are not homosexual.

Question 34

A reason NOT to view prostitution as simply a matter of personal choice involving adults is that

A) prostitution subjects many women to outright violence.
B) prostitution plays a part in spreading sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS.
C) many poor women become trapped in a life of selling sex.
D) prostitution is always morally wrong, regardless of culture or society.

Question 35

Based on what you know about the history of human sexuality, once a society gains birth-control technology

A) social control of sexuality becomes stricter.
B) families, rather than individuals, make choices about sexual partners.
C) social norms regarding sexuality become more permissive.
D) the incest taboo no longer is observed.

Question 36

There are ______ major sexual orientations.

A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five

Question 37

The weight of evidence indicates that sexual orientation is rooted in

A) human biology, although social experience plays some role.
B) how societies construct sexuality.
C) individual choice.
D) the way young children are raised.

Question 38

Little or no sexual attraction to people of either sex is called

A) heterosexuality.
B) bisexuality.
C) homosexuality.
D) asexuality.

Question 39

In global perspective, prostitution is most common in

A) high-income nations, where women are free to choose their profession.
B) poor nations, where women have fewer economic opportunities.
C) all nations: prostitution is found in every country to about the same extent.
D) Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, where women have fewer choices about their lives.

Question 40

Which of the following statements is a widespread-but false-idea about rape?

A) Many rapes take place in the home.
B) Women who are raped must have encouraged their attackers.
C) Men who rape are interested in power rather than sex.
D) "Date rape" is a common problem on college campuses.

Question 41

Modesty is culturally variable.

Question 42

Criticism of the social-conflict approach's view of sexuality would include the fact that

A) sexuality is not a power issue for women.
B) North American society is uniform in the way it views sexuality and gender equality.
C) gay people have made great strides toward greater opportunity and social acceptance.
D) sexuality is biological, so there isn't really a conflict at work.

Question 43

Queer theory is a growing body of knowledge asserting that

A) sex has always seemed strange to most people.
B) no sexual practice should be considered wrong.
C) people fear discovering their homosexuality.
D) there is a heterosexual bias in U.S. society.

Question 44

Although there is a human "sex drive," our biology does not dictate any specific ways of being sexual.

Question 45

____________ refers to a growing body of research findings that challenges the heterosexual bias in Western society.

A) Homophobia
B) Queer theory
C) Heterosexism
D) Sexual orientation

Question 46

Primary sex characteristics refer to reproductive organs.

Question 47

Historically, public attitudes towards sexuality in North America have been inconsistent, mixing cultural repression with individual choice.

Question 48

No sexual practice-not even the incest taboo-is found everywhere in the world.

Question 49

People in all cultures respond to intersexual people with confusion or even disgust.

Question 50

Gender is an element of culture.

Question 51

Which of the following statements is NOT consistent with the social-conflict approach?

A) The process of reality construction is highly variable, so that one group's views of sexuality may well differ from another's.
B) Defining women in sexual terms devalues them, making women into objects of men's interest.
C) U.S. culture often depicts sexuality in terms of sport and violence, such as when we speak of men "scoring" with women, and men "hitting on" women.
D) When police enforce laws against prostitution, the person most likely to be arrested is the female prostitute, not her male "client."

Question 52

Which theoretical approach points to the ways in which sexuality is linked to social inequality?

A) the structural-functional approach
B) the symbolic-interaction approach
C) the social-conflict approach
D) the social-control approach

Question 53

Researchers did not begin to study sexuality until the middle of the twentieth century.

Question 54

Sociologists point out that human sexual behaviour is very similar across all cultures.

Question 55

Who would be most likely to say that the meanings that people attach to virginity are socially constructed and subject to change?

A) a structural functionalist
B) a social-conflict theorist
C) a symbolic interactionist
D) an exchange analyst

Question 56

Durand and Cousens, in the chapter-opening story, are transsexuals.

Question 57

Which of the following concepts refers to stigmatizing anyone who is not heterosexual as "queer"?

A) homophobia
B) heterosexism
C) heterophilia
D) homophilia

Question 58

Gender reassignment is always voluntary.

Question 59

"Society uses the incest taboo to control sexuality in order to maintain social order" would be noted by someone who employs the _____________ approach.

A) structural-functional
B) social-conflict
C) feminist
D) symbolic-interactionist

Question 60

There are few areas of life in which sexuality does not play some part.

Question 61

The Canadian rate of teenage pregnancy was actually higher in the 1960s than it is today.

Question 62

The sexual revolution raised the level of teenage pregnancy in Canada.

Question 63

Estimates are that 20% of the Canadian population is gay.

Question 64

The publication of Alfred Kinsey's first book in 1948 caused a stir, first of all, because scientists were actually studying sex.

Question 65

Most married adults in Canada are sexually unfaithful to their spouses at some point in their marriages.

Question 66

Homosexuality and heterosexuality are mutually exclusive, meaning that all people fall into one category or the other.

Question 67

Becoming pregnant as a teenager raises the risk of not finishing school and becoming poor.

Question 68

There was no distinct category of "homosexual" people until about a century ago.

Question 69

Pornography is a moral issue for some people and a political issue for others.

Question 70

The region of the world where people make the least use of birth control is North America.

Question 71

During the twentieth century, Canadian society experienced profound changes in sexual attitudes and practices.

Question 72

Prostitution is greatest in poor nations, where women have fewer economic opportunities.

Question 73

Homophobia refers to a fear of sexuality.

Question 74

While the sexual revolution increased sexual activity overall, it changed behaviour among men more than among women.

Question 75

It appears, from research done, that Canadian adults are more sexually active than American adults.

Question 76

The baby boom generation-people born between 1946 and 1964-became the first cohort in U.S. history to grow up with the idea that sex was part of everyone's life, married or not.

Question 77

What is and is not pornographic has long been a matter of debate.

Question 78

In recent decades, the public attitude toward homosexuality in Canada has been moving toward greater acceptance.

Question 79

The fact that many people are bisexual demonstrates that sexual orientation is often not clear-cut.

Question 80

Most societies tolerate homosexuality.